Rapeseed polysaccharides alleviate overweight induced by high-fat diet with regulation of gut microbiota in rats

High-fat diet (HFD) could induce obese and microbial dysbiosis, the latter of which has great impact on host health. Dietary polysaccharides are well known to have a wide range of biological benefits for bowel health. In this study, we investigated the effects of rapeseed polysaccharide (RSP) on overweight and gut microbiota in high-fat-diet (HFD) fed rats. RSP effectively alleviated the hyperglycemia and lipid metabolic disorder in serum, which was found closely related to the modulation of intestinal microbiota. Supplementation of RSP regulated the intestinal microbiome by increasing the proportion of butyrate acid producer Blautia (P < ​0.05), Dorea (P ​< ​0.01) and Akkermansia genus and inhibiting the growth of bacterial species associated with inflammation such as unclassified Ruminococcaceae (P ​< ​0.05). Moreover, the restoration of total short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), especially propionate and butyrate might be an important strategy for mitigating HFD induced metabolic disorders. Our results suggested that RSP is a potential prebiotic for preventing obese induced HFD through regulating the gut microbiota.